Bathinda cancer institute sans PET scanner, patients harried

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 23

The nuclear department of Advanced Cancer Research and Institute (ARCI), Bathinda, has been awaiting the PET-CT (positron emission tomography and computed tomography) scan machine since 2016.

In the absence of the PET-CT scan machine, cancer patients undergoing treatment here have to go to Ludhiana to get their PET-CT scan done. It costs them about Rs 15,000.

If the facility starts here, the scan will be done for free. Though the machine is available at Faridkot, patients there have to register first and then wait for their turn, which comes after a month due to heavy rush.

Most patients don’t have time to wait for the test and rush to private hospitals in Ludhiana.

On an average, 60 patients are sent to get this test done every month.

PET scanning is mostly used in the diagnosis and assessment of cancer. It is used to detect cancer, show how advanced a cancer is and see whether it has spread to other parts of the body.

The scan uses a mild radioactive drug to show areas of your body where cells are more active than normal. Moreover, PET scans can detect early changes in cells.

Dr Deepak Arora, Medical Superintendent, Advanced Cancer Research and Institute, Bathinda, said: “The nuclear department has not been made operational for want of a PET scan machine.”

Advanced Cancer Research and Institute came up at a cost of Rs 115 crore and started functioning on July 7, 2016.

Cancer patients not only from the Malwa region, but also from Haryana and Rajasthan come here. At the hospital, any patient with the Mukh Mantri Punjab Cancer Raahat Kosh Scheme card can get free treatment and medicines.